Morris & Company Brother Rabbit

Brother Rabbit from my Moda collection

Morris & Company

"Brother Rabbit" was designed by William Morris in 1882. It's a monochrome print, quite small in scale (especially for a Morris print) but also finely detailed. This is one Morris pattern that was actually designed to be a cotton print.

Here's a magnified shot so you can see the detail although it's fuzzier in the photo than it is in the fabric.

Like many of Morris's designs, it's based on his observations in his garden. Birds and  rabbits hide in the vegetation.

For Morris & Company we colored it five ways. It reads as a neutral and will provide some light contrast to the darker, larger-scale prints.

Like many of Morris's designs the inspiration is the intricacy of medieval tapestry.

Rabbits are often seen hiding in the garden as in this detail from one of the Unicorn tapestries.

Br'er Rabbit from Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories

There are references to this print as "Br'er Rabbit" and the idea that William Morris was inspired by the Uncle Remus stories in American folklore, yet a talking rabbit seems the antithesis of what he was trying to do with his emphasis on European medieval design.

So I am sticking with the name Brother Rabbit, it's patent registration name in 1882. I think it reflects the same kind of empathy for the garden's residents that inspired the "Strawberry Thief."

Plant enough in the garden so the birds and animals can share.